COI Network III – Training, Master Class, Good Practice

The COI Network III project, which took place between 1 November 2006 and 30 November 2007, aimed to strengthen practical cooperation between organisations involved in the research and use of country of origin information (COI) within the refugee status determination (RSD) procedure. It is based on experiences with and achievements of the previous projects COI Network & Training 2004 and COI Network & e-Training 2005.

The project's main targets were to improve an efficient use of COI and thus contribute to a fair and effective RSD procedure in Europe. In order to achieve these goals, five activities focusing on training and evaluation of established practices have been implemented:

The 1st COI Master Class aimed to enhance the professional performance of staff members of COI units throughout Europe by providing a feasible and sustainable form of continuous learning for COI professionals. In June 2007, a pilot has been realised in Vienna, which was attended by more than 50 participants from governmental and non-governmental organisations from 22 European countries, Canada and UNHCR;

The 11th European COI Seminar, which took place in June 2007 in Vienna, focused on two countries of origin, Afghanistan and Iraq. More than 70 COI users and professionals from European NGOs and governmental organisations attended the event. UNHCR experts and independent experts presented human rights developments in the respective countries and discussed questions with the audience;

In the framework of the Good Practice project activity, jurisprudence from appeal and higher instances of all EU member states and from European courts were analysed with regard to the use of COI.